Through Darkness
by Laurenhd08
Summary: AU story where Emma is 16 and comes to storybrooke. This is a revamp of my old story and will be quite different. The old one was deleted from my account. This story is rated M for abuse and trigger warnings.
1. Chapter 1

a/n: Alright, so I know I haven't written in a while but I want to start up again! I didn't like where 'Through Darkness' was going but I still love the main premise of the idea and I know a lot of people enjoy that story so what I'm going to do is tweak and tweeze and start a new. Let me know what you think of this one and know that I am very open to suggestions and pm me if you have something on your mind that you want to share. The story will have the same title and will focus mainly around Emma and MM/Snow. It is still AU, and Emma will have a romantic interest and will remain 16.

Disclaimer: I don't like to talk about the fact that these wonderful storylines and characters are not mine so let's just leave it at that.

Dark. That's the only observation she could make about the world around her when it was this late and she was in serious need of some sleep. The scenery and the road would blend together from time to time and she didn't know if it was because of the blur that her tears were causing, or because the bus was going much faster than it should be. She was currently in between sleep and consciousness and that bothered her. She'd been on full alert for at least twelve hours now and she wanted to remain that way for a while longer, but her exhausted body had other ideas and she had to fight to keep her eyelids from drooping. She wasn't possibly far enough yet was she? He'd find her; he always did and she didn't think that she'd have the will power to fight him off this time.

"Hey girlie, you goin' or stayin'?" she was interrupted from her thoughts by the impatient bus driver. Where were they anyway? The only thing she could see when she looked out the window was darkness and trees. Who the hell would put a bus stop here? She didn't seem to have the money for another ride though so she guessed this would have to do.

"Ummm, going. Are we still in Maine sir?" she asked hesitantly. She suspected they were but she needed to be sure and she hadn't been paying attention to road signs for the past hour.

"Sure are missy. Weird place for a bus stop, huh?" she nodded in response and tried her best to smile. The bus driver ha a kind face and she knew he would probably drive her to the next town with no extra charge if she begged but she had learned early on in her life not to trust anyone and she didn't beg under any circumstance, she'd rather go hungry. Besides she thrived in the woods. She didn't know why, it's not like she spent a lot of time there but it was a natural love and she always felt a weird sense of belonging amongst the trees and the wildlife. She stepped off the bus and gave the bus driver a small wave and quick thanks before she headed down the sloped highway and into the beckoning forest.

It was about seven hours later before she caught a glimpse of a town up ahead and she was pretty much dead on her feet. A few strands had fallen from her ponytail and were now framing her pale face. Normally she hated small towns but she didn't know how long it'd been since she'd eaten last, or slept for that matter and she needed to know that there were people still living and walking around.

As soon as her feet hit the sun soaked pavement her world began to spin out of control. She felt her knees buckle and braced herself for the fall that never came. What the hell? She looked up to see concerned and confused eyes before completely losing consciousness. The last thing she heard herself saying was 'I meant to do that" before the darkness washed over her.

a/n: So this is just a short story to explain how Emma got to Storybrooke but I'm going to delve into her relationship with MM and other townies. Let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

"Miss. Blanchard?" These children were wearing her patience thin today. I mean really! Did all forth graders have to glue their butts to chairs? Was their some kind of rulebook?

"Yes Nicolas?" the brunette asked in an exasperated tone, her attention divided between him and another boy who was thoroughly stuck to his chair and was just now realizing that maybe gluing your bottom to your seat is not a brilliant idea and will ruin a good pair of pants. "Jeremiah sweetie, did you use super glue?!" she was beginning to think an outdoor class was not the best idea, the children got far too rambunctious.

"Umm whose that?" she was still slightly distracted with Jeremiah and his chair but she took a moment to look up from her attempts of separating his pants from the plastic of the seat. All the kids were huddled together and pointing towards the woods, which is where her eyes travelled next.

"Who-" she cut herself off when she saw what the kids were seeing. A blonde covered in dirt and blood, had stumbled out of the woods and was looking lazily around. She looked to be in her teen years but she had a mature and guarded look in her eyes. The brunette teacher felt a pang in her heart and, as if on instinct, started walking towards the disoriented girl and calling for the children to go back inside. She was just in time to catch the girl when she stumbled forward and, despite her worry and confusion, she chuckled quietly when the girl muttered something along the lines of 'I meant to do that'. The paramedics came and left, assuring her that the girl should be fine and so she hesitantly made her way back into her classroom. Although she tried to forget the haunted look in the young women's pale blue eyes, it seemed to stick with her and fill her mind with a rapidly increasing bundle of questions. Where had she come from, and worse how did she end up in such a poor physical state? Was she running to or from someone or something? Most importantly, why did she feel a gut-wrenching sense of anxiety and recognition when she laid eyes on her?

When she left the school in the late afternoon, Mary Margaret could not seem to stop her feet from moving towards the hospital of their own accord. She had a volunteer shift there in a few hours so she supposed she could just go earlier and use that as an excuse to see the girl. She opened the large glass doors and, with her head not where it should have been, she charged into Dr. Whale.

"Hey… you're here early. Everything okay?" the practiced physician asked, an eyebrow quirked in confusion.

"Uh yeah, just thought I'd put in some extra hours. Listen do you have any word on that blonde girl? Has she told you where she came from? Is she alright?" Mary Margaret had always been a considerate person but this was going above and beyond her usual caring nature and she knew that.

"That's actually where I was headed until I bumped into you. She just woke up and I need some medical information and a guardian to call. Why? Do you know her?" Whale looked at her suspiciously, taken a back by the panicked look in her eyes.

"No, I just found her and caught her when she passed out. Do you think maybe I could join you in there? I just can't stop thinking about her and besides I could write down her history as she tells it to you." Somewhere during her little speech her voice cracked and she knew Dr. Whale could hear the desperation in her tone. She didn't care about that at the moment, he could think what he wanted; all she cared about was making sure the familiar teen was all right. He raised one eyebrow up at her but nodded and led the way to the newest patient's room.

She was staring at the door when they entered and her clouded eyes sent a pang of surprise through her. What teenager was this aware? Her mouth was set in a grim line and she wouldn't hold eye contact for more than a few seconds. On the bright side her eyes reflected recognition in the few seconds that they held each other's gazes and her posture involuntarily softened.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Whale your attending physician. You gave us a bit of a scare there for a while, how do you feel?" Mary Margaret caught on to his tactic; he was trying to ease her into giving him the information he needed by getting her trust him. His plan seemed to backfire as her eyes hardened and her posture stiffened.

"Fine, thanks. Look I'm eighteen and therefore have medical consent, I'd like to be discharged assuming there's nothing terminally wrong with me." This girl was smart; she'd give her that.

"Umm… well I'd advise you to stay overnight. You're dehydrated and you have multiple fractures and breaks that weren't properly set. I'll need some I.D. to confirm your age and someone to contact. I'm sure someone is wondering where you are. Can I get your name?" The young blonde tensed at this and her eyes filled with panic. Seeing her distress the teacher threw her a life raft.

"Can I speak to her for a moment Dr. Whale? Alone?" She pulled out her best puppy dog eyes and he caved quickly, exiting the room without much of a fuss.

"Listen I don't know you, but I know you're running from something because I've seen that look before," she didn't know where she'd seen the look before but she knew she had. "My guess is you're not eighteen yet but you don't want the hospital to call whoever gave you those fractures, am I right? So what's your name sweetie?" She wasn't usually this assertive and to be honest she didn't even know where all of that had come from, it was like she had blanked out and someone else had made such bold assumptions towards the girl who was sitting in front of her. The blonde looked about to argue, her eyebrows furrowed and her posture tensed up even more, but with a defeated sigh she deflated quickly.

"Emma. My name is Emma Swan."

A/N: SOOOOOO?


End file.
